The '80s And Early '90s - A Controversial Beginning
When the Appalachian Trail was laid out in the 1930s, the route through the Cumberland Valley was a road walk. Though the route varied somewhat from the 30s through the 80s, this was the final route: coming off South Mountain on what is now known as the White Rocks Trail, the route joined Kuhn Road, then followed Leidigh Road, Old Stonehouse Road, Appalachian Drive, the Carlisle Pike, Bernheisel Bridge Road, Sherwood Drive and Deer Lane. HERE and HERE are links to two maps that show the A.T. road walk route of the A.T. through the Valley in the 1970s. For hikers during that period, a favorite attraction was stopping at the "Ice Cream Lady"'s house in Churchtown for free ice cream. The Valley A.T. section was maintained by Mountain Club of Maryland (MCM) at this time, as part of their section extending from Pine Grove Furnace State Park through Duncannon.
Beginning around 1978, Appalachian Trail Conservancy (ATC), the National Park Service, MCM and others began to look for a route to take the A.T. off the roads in the Valley. This was part of an overall effort to turn the A.T. into more of a wilderness experience. During the 1980s, they looked at different proposals, including one to run the Trail along existing railroad corridors. Eventually, they settled on a proposal to carry the Trail through woodlots and along farm fields through the "Ironstone Ridge", approximately halfway between Carlisle and Mechanicsburg. They began negotiations with the landowners to acquire a corridor of land along this route, which would be transferred to the NPS.
As public hearings were held on the proposal, two factions developed. One opposed the re-route. A group involved with the opposition was CANT - Citizens Against The New Trail. Other local groups joined the trail organizations in supporting the reroute, forming a group called PRO-TRAIL. These hearings became quite contentious at times.
According to the Carlisle Sentinel: "On Dec. 2, 1984, The Sentinel reported that 55 percent of the 286 letters received during the review period supported the Ridge Route. Lester Hummel of Boiling Springs wrote “I am aware of its natural beauty and feel that the Ridge Route would best allow both hikers and residents to enjoy this natural beauty both today and in the future.” At the height of the opposition, Arlene Byers of Carlisle went before the Monroe Township board of supervisors on June 22, 1978 as the spokeswoman for the group Citizens Against the New Trail. Byers said a Trail alternate would hurt property values in the area, create a need for addition police protection due to vandalism and potentially create noise pollution if motorbikes and other vehicles could not be kept off the trail.
Eventually the decision was made to reroute the Trail using the "Ironstone Ridge" route. The corridor was acquired from landowners in the Valley. Though negotiations were contentious at times, the trail groups never had to resort to extreme measures such as eminent domain. According to Jim Foster, past President of CVATC: "It was controversial to re-route the trail from a road walk through the valley to a true trail experience. Some good friends of the Trail, like the Ice Cream Lady, were disappointed. But, on balance, it seems clear that the re-route was a good move. We find that the vast majority of people now agree with the re-route. One thing I'm happy about is how cooperative some of the adjoining landowners have become. One of them who was previously opposed to us acquiring some of his land has recently allowed us to enter his land to get supplies and equipment onto the Trail. I think we've shown ourselves to be good neighbors."
HERE is a link to an article from the Carlisle Sentinel on the reroute.
Beginning around 1978, Appalachian Trail Conservancy (ATC), the National Park Service, MCM and others began to look for a route to take the A.T. off the roads in the Valley. This was part of an overall effort to turn the A.T. into more of a wilderness experience. During the 1980s, they looked at different proposals, including one to run the Trail along existing railroad corridors. Eventually, they settled on a proposal to carry the Trail through woodlots and along farm fields through the "Ironstone Ridge", approximately halfway between Carlisle and Mechanicsburg. They began negotiations with the landowners to acquire a corridor of land along this route, which would be transferred to the NPS.
As public hearings were held on the proposal, two factions developed. One opposed the re-route. A group involved with the opposition was CANT - Citizens Against The New Trail. Other local groups joined the trail organizations in supporting the reroute, forming a group called PRO-TRAIL. These hearings became quite contentious at times.
According to the Carlisle Sentinel: "On Dec. 2, 1984, The Sentinel reported that 55 percent of the 286 letters received during the review period supported the Ridge Route. Lester Hummel of Boiling Springs wrote “I am aware of its natural beauty and feel that the Ridge Route would best allow both hikers and residents to enjoy this natural beauty both today and in the future.” At the height of the opposition, Arlene Byers of Carlisle went before the Monroe Township board of supervisors on June 22, 1978 as the spokeswoman for the group Citizens Against the New Trail. Byers said a Trail alternate would hurt property values in the area, create a need for addition police protection due to vandalism and potentially create noise pollution if motorbikes and other vehicles could not be kept off the trail.
Eventually the decision was made to reroute the Trail using the "Ironstone Ridge" route. The corridor was acquired from landowners in the Valley. Though negotiations were contentious at times, the trail groups never had to resort to extreme measures such as eminent domain. According to Jim Foster, past President of CVATC: "It was controversial to re-route the trail from a road walk through the valley to a true trail experience. Some good friends of the Trail, like the Ice Cream Lady, were disappointed. But, on balance, it seems clear that the re-route was a good move. We find that the vast majority of people now agree with the re-route. One thing I'm happy about is how cooperative some of the adjoining landowners have become. One of them who was previously opposed to us acquiring some of his land has recently allowed us to enter his land to get supplies and equipment onto the Trail. I think we've shown ourselves to be good neighbors."
HERE is a link to an article from the Carlisle Sentinel on the reroute.
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To the left is a slideshow of scenes from the former route of the A.T. |